This web page is a report of a ham radio operator, Robert Osband N4SCY
(Ozzie), who provided emergency
communications following Hurricane Andrew in Homestead FL in 1992. Ozzie
was team leader of a 10 person team from Pinellas County (Clearwater) FL. This report
was published in APA-Nu, an Amateur Press Association of the NYU Science
Fiction Society (no longer affiliated with New York University).

Click "File" and "Save As" to save this to your hard drive, then log-off
and read it from there. You will not have to pay for online time to read
it that way.

I've never lived in Hell, but I went camping there one week
at the end of August of 1992. In the aftermath of Hurricane
Andrew, I went to operate Ham Radio Communications in hurricane
ravaged South Florida.

On August 24th, Hurricane Andrew slammed into the Bahama
Islands and then headed for Florida, just south of Miami. Weather
forecasters and news reporters at the National Hurricane Center
(NHC) were about to find out the hard way what the fury of a
hurricane was about first hand. Not the full fury, mind you. The
full fury of Andrew would pass to the south of the Coral Gables
office. Yet America saw the shreds of the radar dome in the
parking lot of the building, and cars that had been picked up by
the howling forces of Nature, and dropped on other cars.
Newscasters trying to do "Stand ups" in the parking lot were nearly
blown over trying to show "the folks at home" what being in the
hurricane was about.

Those guys should have had their press credentials pulled by
the NHC for stupidity. Sure, these guys were under pressure from
their bosses to bring back spectacular news coverage, but at that
point the report should have been, "I can't possibly convey the
force this hurricane is displaying, except to say that I fear for
my life out here. I'm going back inside, and back to the studio".

Ham radio operators were not sitting idly by in all this.
Networks of amateurs were operating on frequencies that are
established for such things. People knew where to check in, and
await assignment. Many operators were assigned to Red Cross
Shelters before the storm. Residents living in low lying areas, and
in trailer parks were told to go to Red Cross Shelters. But those
guys had homes that they needed to go home and repair themselves.
They were not only relief workers, they were victims themselves.

The immediate dangers in a hurricane are "Storm Surge", and
(naturally enough) high winds. Storm Surge is the phenomena
whereby the hurricane pushes water ahead of it, causing a wall of
water up to 30 feet high to come ashore, and simply wash away
buildings. Substantial buildings.

I have attended the Governor's Hurricane Conference in Tampa
the last two years, and Bob Sheets, Director of the NHC always
shows the photo from Hurricane Gilbert that hit the coast of
Louisiana (There were 87 eight by ten color glossy photographs
with the circles and arrows, and a paragraph on the back of each
one explainin' what each one was - However, they were shown as
slides, and narrated). It shows an aerial view of a three story
brick apartment house near the shore where residents were told to
evacuate. One group in the building told the police that visited
them that they were staying and having a Hurricane Party. The
next slide shows an aerial photo of the site after the hurricane
washed away the building, leaving only the outline in the sand
showing the foundation of the original building in the first
photo. The only survivor of the 23 people at the party happened
to be in the bathroom when the storm surge came through, and was
floated out the second story window.

Have you picked up a gallon jug of water lately? Now think
of the weight of a 30 foot high wall of water. Next, think of
that wall of water moving forward at 10 miles an hour. I never
got near the shore to find out what damage the storm surge did,
because the true aftermath of Hurricane Andrew was inland. One
report I remember, though, said the lobby of the Fountain Blu
Hotel (Home of SunCon in 1977) was flooded.

Retirement Heaven becomes Hell

Florida is a retirement haven. When I moved to Florida five
years ago, I learned that the letters FL are not just the two
letter postal code for Florida, but the acronym for Fantasy Land,
because it's where people go to live their fantasies. Many
retirees live in trailer parks, because it's cheap housing, and
the weather is such that the trailer provides the necessary roof
over ones head. It is also low maintenance, low cost, and someone
else mows the lawn.

Those with more retirement money saved up (usually through
the retirement plan of the large Northern manufacturing company
they worked for, such as Eastman Kodak of Rochester NY in my own
parents case for instance) buy a condo for many of the same
reasons. Especially because someone else mows the lawn, and they
don't EVER have to drive through snow again (Boynton Beach, which
is North of Ft Lauderdale came through with just some high winds,
and my Mom was busy collecting their own hurricane supplies of
canned food and bottled water to drop off to the Andrew relief
collection site on her way to the golf course the day after the
storm passed through). The condos are built pretty well, and
construction codes in South Florida are such that buildings are
built to withstand winds in excess of 100 MPH. The 160 MPH winds
of this Category 4 hurricane (on a scale of 1 to 5) however,
ripped apart the sheet aluminum sides of trailer homes, and
scattered them and their contents to the winds.

The night after Andrew hit, I got a phone call from Charlie
Shipman N4OBT (If you have to make a choice between using a ham
radio operator's name or his FCC assigned call sign, use the call
sign). I had pulled an 8 hour shift of working ham radio from a
Red Cross shelter in Oakland CA after the 89 earthquake.

Based on that experience, I was asked by N4OBT to be the
leader of a team from Pinellas County that would drive down and
provide ham radio operators for the relief efforts that would
start coming into the affected areas. No one else had as much
disaster experience as I had, which is why I got the Team Leader
spot. When you're out of work, and collecting unemployment, you
have some liberties from the usual time constraints. The catch
was, I didn't have the bucks to go. You see, the Dade County EOC
(Emergency Operations Center) in Miami was telling hams coming
in, "Be self sufficient when you come in. Bring your own food,
water, and fuel for 4 to 5 days".

I didn't have the money to buy all that, but naturally
enough, local hams who had health problems, or job and other
commitments, or just otherwise couldn't go, put up the money for
the supplies and gas. We set up a net (radio network) of ham
operators to discuss the plans of any volunteers who wanted to go
down. On Tuesday the 25th, the phone calls that Charlie N4OBT was
getting as the Pinellas County Amateur Radio Emergency
Coordinator said that a group of hams from Jacksonville, Orlando
and Melbourne (FL) were meeting at the Rest Area on I-95 just
south of Melbourne at Noon on Wednesday. We felt that we could
not meet that deadline with the preparations we had to make, but
could leave the following day.

By the time those discussions were over, it had been decided
that we would wait four days, until Saturday, and field a team
that would meet in the parking lot of the Clearwater Chapter of
the American Red Cross. This way, we would provide relief
operators for those that were meeting on Wednesday at noon. We
had nets at Noon and 7PM EDT every day to discuss plans,
activities, and work out arrangements, as well as keep up on the
latest news coming out of South Florida. The news of looting,
marshal law and such made us over prepare for our convoy of 8
vehicles, and a dozen or so personnel.

Operators in the mission included, Ozzie N4SCY, Bill KK4XI,
Lee WB2TEJ, Jim W4APV, Keith KC4DIP, Scott KC4TGQ, Ed KD4OOS,
Chris KN4VU, Bob N4ZML, and Carolyn KC4SXP. Bob and Carolyn had
their daughter and son-in-law in another vehicle as well. They
are from the Homestead area originally, and Bob's sister had
called him with the needs of a hospital clinic she works at.
Carolyn, being a Health Professional, had gotten contributions
from the local hospital she works at, and she and Bob used the
convoy as a means of getting through the expected road-blocks,
and on with their own "personal mission".

A vanload of three ham operators from Hillsborough County
across Tampa Bay from us were also leaving Saturday, and met up
with us outside Sarasota and joined the convoy. Bob knew where to
find the EOC, since he helped build the place. We took some
masking tape, and put an "X" on the back of each rear view
mirror. The theory was that at a Toll Booth, or Check Point, we
could tell the official that members of our crew had the X on the
mirror. No tolls were charged to relief vehicles.

Arriving in the area

We drove down I-75, which becomes "Alligator Alley" which
crosses the very top of the Everglades (Any discussion about
"Gators" in Florida brings up the topic of the state's dominant
religion, with it's two major sects, the Gators of the University
of Florida, and the Seminoles of Florida State University. Other
local sects are the Hurricanes of Miami and the Rattlers of
Florida A&M. The professional teams, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,
and the Miami Dolphins are for those transplanted Yankees who
just don't understand about real life in Florida. But I'm really
not here to talk about football <I came to talk about the
draft>.

We turned south on State Route 27, under Bob N4ZML's
instructions, and stopped to top off our fuel at a Shell station on
State Route 27 (SR-27) and the Tamiami Trail (US-41). Ed KD4OOS
spoke to someone at this stop who said that no relief had shown
up at the nearby Indian reservation. This was 5 days after the
hurricane. Ed promised that the word would get to the emergency
management officials. Bob talked us all into the Dade County EOC
(Emergency Operations Center). While waiting for our assignments
from the EOC, Bob and Carolyn took their mini-convoy off towards
Homestead.

The Amateur Radio room at the EOC is right near the main
entrance, so I didn't get to see much of the place, but I've been
through the EOC in Clearwater. There are situations boards, and
maps. TV's are tuned to CNN and The Weather Channel. There is
also a desk and two chairs for each agency that is represented in
the EOC (one to man the phone, and the other as a runner).
Besides the Red Cross, there is the Department of Transportation
to dispatch crews to clear roads. The electric company and
telephone company are there to coordinate downed power and
telephone lines. Police, fire and other civil authorities are
also represented in "the pit". Ham radio's role is to provide
communications where needed. Telephone service is not expected to
survive a direct hit by a hurricane. It didn't. Primarily, the
requirement for ham operators is to provide shelter
communications between the Red Cross Shelters, and it's chain of supply.

When Ed came in to sign in and get his credentials, he
mentioned the situation at the Indian reservation, and he was
taken into The Pit. It was determined by the ham radio staff that
Ed himself was the message and he should be taken in to deliver
the word from the field. It appeared that written messages
delivered to The Pit had a low level of credibility.

In this disaster, there was not only a need for shelters,
but for food distribution centers, and first aid stations in the
field. While all people in trailer homes were required to seek
hurricane shelters, many thousands of others were told to stay in
their homes. It was expected that regular homes would withstand
the force of the Hurricane. They weren't counting on the force of
Andrew. It meant that with the widespread devastation, with
businesses shut down, and transportation at a standstill, people
who were not in shelters needed food and water as well.

TV cannot adequately convey the amount of destruction caused
by the hurricane. There were no leaves on what trees were left
standing. Roofs, and walls of houses were ripped apart, and
fallen down. Many people were huddled in corners of their house,
hoping they would survive. Once they survived the hurricane, they
had to survive the aftermath.

Krome Ave and SW 200th St
Our Home

I was stationed at a food distribution site, with a first
aid station set up by HRS, the Florida Department of Health &
Rehabilitative Services, which ordinarily oversees Welfare, and
Food Stamp programs. The problem at this site was that there was
no one in charge of the food distribution side of the house. This
site was not part of the original disaster plan, but had been an
impromptu site that was started by Channel 7. A group of Jay
Cee's (formerly The Junior Chamber of Commerce) came out, and
started helping. Most of them left at the end of the day,
promising to be back, and leaving one of their guys behind. Jimmy
was a Godsend, because he got the food distribution going in a
much more orderly manner.

The site was set up at what used to be a local bank, started
out under the shelter of a four car dive-up window car-port. We
got there Saturday night, and pulled up on one side of the bank
in Bill's RV. It was our base of operations, and we handled
message traffic. Food and water were also put under the car-port
in the other drive up lanes. Clothes were piled up in the bank's
parking lot behind the building. People would come by, and look
through the piles for clothes they thought would fit.

Then it rained on Sunday. A tropical, torrential downpour.
Canned goods weren't bothered, but dry foods, and breads were
totaled. The clothes were soaked, and a soggy mess. A day later
with mildew, they were declared a health hazard and we were
calling for their removal.

The first large tent for sheltering supplies arrived Sunday,
and the First Aid operation took one end, and the food operation
took the rest. The clothes were still out back, but food was our
first concern.

The National Guard was patrolling, but without ammunition
they couldn't do much. The National Guard was "hanging out" at
our location, but they didn't make a real "base" there, and they
were ordered out on Tuesday. There were so many areas for them to
guard that they were spread very thin. The Lieutenant was real
good about leaving a few men as long as he could (and maybe a
little longer than his orders allowed, but I'm not going into
that in a permanent record like this - this man should NOT get in
trouble for doing the right thing). Anyway, Tuesday night the
food tent got looted. It was in the middle of the night after the
guard had gone, and Bill and I had secured our station for the
night, and were busy "cutting Z's". The next morning, though, a
side of the canvas tent next to the road was folded up to allow
access, and boxes near the hole were ransacked. We had only
enough food to last one hour of distribution.

The 27th Combat Engineers (Airborne) showed up to deal with
our acres of unhealthy clothing. They "took it out" in the best
military meaning of the term. If it hadn't been such a waste of
material donated with the best of intentions, it would have been
a true marvel to behold, as their troops and heavy equipment
filled 50 5-Ton truckloads of the sorry mess out to a landfill.
Once the 27th was through, troops of the 82nd Airborne picked up
the material that had, quite literally, fallen through the
cracks.

Until Jimmy from the JC's got things in hand, and stayed on
the site, we'd get people coming by at 6 or 7 AM in vans and
pick-up trucks wanting to drop things off. We must have been
official, since we were walking around with radios, right? Well,
I'd explain that "I'm only the ham radio operator around here,"
and that I had no authority. "But what that also means," I'd tell
them, "is that I don't have the authority to say 'No'". I'd then
show them some empty places to drop their stuff, but I had to get
back to my radios in the RV.

The bottles of water donated by Millers, Coors, and
Budweiser were of great help to the people who needed it. You've
seen quart bottles of beer? Well, the labels were changed, and
they contained only water. Most also said "Not To Be Sold".
Actually, there were stories of "black marketeering" of relief
supplies. I didn't see any of it myself, but then again, I'll
admit that it's not the kind of thing I look for.

Security at the Site

While the troops were running around without ammo, Bill,
KK4XI and I were civilians. And Bill is the Assistant Range
Master of the St Petersburg Police Department Firing Range. He
usually wore his "Blue Knights MotorCycle Club" cap, and t-shirt.
The Blue Knights is made up of off-duty police officers, and any
cop we ran across would recognize it. He carried his nine
millimeter Glock, and I got his 38 Special with the HydroShock
cartridges. No, I don't know much about what the HydroShocks are,
but Bill told me it would be loud, and anyone hit with them would
know it the first time.

I don't handle weapons often these days, and I don't
consider it a game when I do. I really got the 38, because I was
wearing a belt with my pants, and Bill wore no belt with his
shorts. The holster on the 38 needed to be put on a belt, while
the Glock's holster had a clip. We only wore them at night, and I
made it a point to be standing near our RV in such a way that a
car's headlights would reflect off it, giving anyone second
thoughts about dealing with our site. Basically, I tried to use
the pistol as a scarecrow, because I didn't want to have to use
it any other way.

In the mean time, our primary activity was to keep the EOC
appraised of the needs of our food distribution site. We kept
yelling to get the Port-O-Let brand portable toilets cleaned (and
it was important to know what brand you had at your site - Net
Control never did), but it seemed the servicing crews were
believing the Press reports, and were refusing to enter the area
without a police or military escort. During the day, I don't
think they had much to worry about though.

We had plenty of bottled water, though food became
critically short once or twice, with semi-tractor trailer trucks
pulling up like the 7th Calvary. In fact, a couple of times I
almost sent out messages "signed" by "Major O'Reilly, First name
Radar" to let the EOC know that we were without anyone in
authority at the time to sign messages, as well as the fact that
the situation was getting desperate enough to justify the tactic.
Heck, SOMEONE at the EOC must have watched MASH. In fact, I
wanted to know the Zip Code out here, so we could be M*A*S*H
33030.

No such luck, though. We weren't a Surgical hospital (MASH =
Mobile Army Surgical Hospital), our first aid station was a DMAT
(Disaster Medical Action Team) pronounced "Dee-Mat".

Finally, a bus pulled up. It was a mobile hospital from the
Veterans Administration. The nomenclature plate read "Date of
Manufacture: August 1992". This was the bus' first mission. The
HRS nurses had been brought in each morning, and taken out each
evening by an HRS driver and van, but one male nurse who had
driven in from Bradenton stayed overnight in a tent that appeared
from somewhere. People came all through the night seeking food
and medical attention. While the distribution site was closed at
night, we'd try to give people what they needed to get through
the night, and have them come back in the morning. The VA bus
would leave each night, and come back each morning also. The
thing cost taxpayers one million bucks, and they weren't going to
leave that kind of resource out in a field behind a burned out
bank overnight.

The VA Medical Staff were told what we had been telling
people - we were NOT asking for ID. Many victims in this area
were illegal immigrants, and we were relief workers, NOT the
immigration department. The VA staff agreed quickly, but the
young pharmacist had a real problem with that. "We need to keep
records of drug dispurcements, what do we use for Social Security
Numbers if they won't give them to us?", she asked. "Just put all
nines in that field", she was told by her boss. It went against
the grain (and probably a few regulations), but she did it.

On Wednesday, September 2 the EOC net made it clear that the
net would shut down that night. The US Forest Service was handing
out hand-held radios that would allow our "communications
clients" to have direct contact with the EOC and disaster
officials. Bill and I had been keeping in touch with other
members of the Pinellas County team via our radios, and many of
us felt that our clients were not yet ready to give up our
services. The 800 MHz band HT (Handie Talkie) had shown up with a
Miami Metro Parks official, but he had a couple of sites as his
responsibility, and was never around when someone needed to pass
a message on Tuesday or Wednesday.

At Midnight Wednesday night, the EOC Net shut down. At
Midnight Oh One on Thursday morning, the Dade County Red Cross
established a net on the same frequency. We were not the only
radio operators to stay and help our clients, but it was starting
to look like someone didn't want "those mere ham operators" in
the loop any more.

The VA Administrator in charge of the VA Bus wound up with
one of the HT's, and it was beginning to look like we were out of
a job. But besides keeping in touch with the official team we'd
fielded, Bob and Carolyn had popped up on frequency every now and
then. They had gotten involved with the NDMS (National Disaster
Medical Service) team that had set up a Field Hospital in what
had been until recently a Senior Citizens Recreation Center.

On Tuesday night, I contacted Bob, and spoke with him about
the team joining up with him in Homestead after the nets had shut
down, and we were no longer needed at our current posts. The
channel was a bit noisy with static, and since the pay phones in
front of the convenience store across the street were working, I
decided to phone him on the 800 number that FEMA (Federal
Emergency Management Agency) had set up at Homestead Field
Hospital.

I walked across the street with a flashlight, and ran into a
scene from my past. I'd forgotten what it was like in those long
lines waiting for the pay phone after a hard day in Basic
Training. There were 25 or 30 men with M-16's in line in front of
me. And being a civilian, I outranked them all - and further, I
had official communications to transact! They may have wondered
what that shaggy haired, bearded weirdo was chuckling about as he
smiled, turned and walked away. I decided that I would put up
with the static on the radio channel, and leave the phone lines
to guys who needed them much worse than I did.

Getting Bob back on the radio, we agreed to meet at Noon
Wednesday to plan strategy, see his situation, and otherwise
muddle things out. By this time, Bill and I were "in" so good
with the 82nd Airborne, the National Guard, and the VA, that it
was time to abuse some that good will. After all, Bill's RV was a
little ungainly to just take out for a brief jaunt. I found the
Lieutenant, who routed me to the Captain, who said "Sure, we'll
find you a hummvee and a driver". And so, we were driven to
Homestead Field Hospital for lunch.

Bob and Carolyn were set up in a paradise. FEMA had it's
communications van set up with antennas for radio repeaters, a
satellite dish for connection to a telephone exchange in rural
Maryland via an AT&T Telstar satellite, a Coast Guard mess tent
which served us (and our driver) a pork chop dinner fit for
royalty, and a small office outside the Hospital Administrator's
office for a Ham Shack. A heliport had been established out the
back, and Bob had commo with a US Navy ship that "just happened"
to have some ham operators on it. The fact that our new found ham
buddies were the Communications Chief and Radio Operator of the
ship in their "day job" helped to speed through requests made
through this channel outside the loop of the Dade County EOC.

Bob had gotten his site well supplied, and operational. He
hadn't had so much fun since his days as a military manager in
Viet Nam. Since our sites were getting supplied with radios, and
we were getting the impression that we were overstaying our
welcome in the "official" net, we decided to pool our resources
into this site, and went back to the "Krome 200 Palace" (as Bill
called it) to get the RV. Our driver had enjoyed his lunch, and I
enjoyed my Hummvee ride.

Tetanus shots were in high demand, as people working on
their homes were scratched by, or stepped on, exposed nails. With
Bill and myself, Ed and Chris, and Keith and Scott pulled in, we
were a fairly large group. We had enough people to put on some
"morale details", as well as provide staff for crews that would
go out in the field. Since the military radios could not get out
as far as our ham rigs, our people would ride with Army units
carrying the NDMS medical people looking for patients to treat.
The ham operators would radio in if supplies were needed, or
emergency evacuation had to be called. I spent some time making
up some "certificates" on the copying machine to give to the
people we were working with from Kentucky who were the medical
team.

It seems the NDMS is a new service similar to the Army
Reserve, in that volunteers are trained, and equipped for
emergency operations, and when called up, at least one third of
the 100 members of the team must be available for deployment.
They are then taken by military transport to provide medical
assistance in case of emergency. There was an NDMS team from
Albuquerque NM working near Cutler Ridge, and the team from
Kentucky replaced a team from North Carolina that they had
replaced. Teams do a one week tour of duty, and are then "rotated
out" (to use the military term for replacing battle weary troops
with fresh ones).

Two members of our team, Lee and Jim were assigned to a
local high school which hadn't been opened as an official shelter
site, but had been opened by firemen using their axes to break
the chains on the doors for neighborhood residents who had come
to be sheltered. Lee tells the story of the First Sargent of the
82nd Airborne who had no need of civilians whatsoever. However,
in listening to their communications people discuss their
problems of limited radio coverage, Lee suggested that he and Jim
build them a 6 Meter Dipole antenna.

They took some electrical cord, measured it to the length
that would transmit a good signal on the proper wavelength for
the frequency band the Army was using, and hooked it up. It
improved the range of the radios so drastically, that the "Top"
(as First Sergeants are called) became their best buddy the
entire time they were there.

Another anecdote I heard after I got back from Homestead was
that in many cases, whole housing developments had been blown
down by the hurricane - except for the "Model Home" which still
stood. You can imagine the number of irate home owners who
expected their homes to have been built to the same standards as
the Model (lawsuits are still pending).

On Saturday September 6, The NDMS unit was "rotating home",
and there would be no replacement, as Homestead General Hospital
had learned to cope with things. Ed and Chris had decided to go
south to the Florida Keys where they had heard there was a need
for some operators, and had friends to check on. Keith and Scott
and I thought it was about time to go home, and Bill, Jim and Lee
wanted to stay on at the High School. We decided that as long as
no one was stranded, we could all go home when each of us wanted,
but the job essentially was done. We had provided essential
communications when no other means was available, and when we
could find no further need for our talents, it was time to go
home (There was also MagiCon, which I was missing). I rode with
Keith in Scott's van.

We stopped at a Country Kitchen restaurant for a "good home
cooked" meal (or best equivalent) on the way home. Again, we
showed our "Emergency Services" signs on the dashboard of our
vehicle, and were never charged a toll. As we got into radio
range of Pinellas County repeaters, it was great to hear the
thanks of the other operators for going down and doing the kind
of job that only ham radio could do.

You have to realize, that we are not heroes. We did no
herculean task. We just went in, put up our radios and antennas,
and passed messages. Dull, boring, but necessary work. We just
happened to do that work when it was necessary, and in a
professional-like manner. It belied the name "Amateur" in the
Amateur Radio Service. OK, so maybe we put in some weird hours,
and some of had bigger problems to contend with than others (like
generals and other brass hats parading through (and eventually
being tossed out of) the communications room). But we did it, we
were happy to do it, and most of us are ready to do it again.

Other Sidelights

Most net operations were on one of two repeaters (radios on
high towers that receive your transmissions, and retransmit them
to a wider area than your own radio can reach). One of those
frequencies was clobbered by intermod (the inter-modulation of
diverse radio signals from nearby antennas). Many of the ham
operators we spoke with at the EOC seemed to be young,
inexperienced kids. Every third transmission seemed to be "Roger,
QRX" (in a telegraph based hobby, "Q" codes have been developed
to shorten routine messages. QRX means "Please stand by"). One
Hispanic operator had difficulty understanding the radio
operators in the field, though the other operators on the net
could hear the caller perfectly well. Though the difficulty
seemed to be that he did not understand the English language
terms being used, his reply was always "Please increase your
power, or move your antenna".

These kids at net control would constantly come up on
frequency with "The Four Questions", as I came to call them. It
was a request for the status of certain staples, some of which
were pretty stupid based on our previous transmissions.
Undoubtedly, the EOC was getting some pressure on it if they kept
asking us this stuff, but the view from the field was that they
could have kept track of some of this stuff themselves.

"Do you need a Water Buffalo?", was the standard request
we'd get. Scott at the Cutler Ridge Shopping Center, with a
number of these water tanks on trailer wheels sitting in front of
him would reply, "I've got TEN water buffaloes! Where do you need
them sent?" The net control operator replied, "Answer the
question, yes or no. Do you need a water buffalo?"

Using Local Resources

Bob at the hospital informed us that through his "mere ham
buddies" on the Navy ship, he'd found out there was an Hispanic
repeater that had gotten back up near Homestead, and that the
folks on it had offered the use of the repeater if we needed it.
We tuned to the frequency, and heard a lot of Spanish being
spoken. Bill got with the National Guard, and found a fellow that
was bilingual, and had him speak to the Spanish speaking hams (It
was legal, because it was a legitimate emergency, and because a
Ham operator was controlling the on/off switch, and could shut
down the transmitter if the unlicensed user said anything against
the radio regulations).

"Yes", the fellow said, "They will move off the repeater
anytime you need it". We set up a Sked (a scheduled time for
operation) with our other Pinellas County team members, and at
the appointed hour broke into the rapid fire Spanish chatter.
Sure enough, someone came back in English with a little prepared
message relinquishing the use of the repeater to Relief
Operations (us), and then gave the speech again in Spanish.

We got a few things squared away about our team operations,
and admitted that some of the stations couldn't reach this
repeater very well, but it was certainly better than the
frequency with the intermod on it. We signed off with a cheery,
"Thank you gentlemen. This is N4SCY returning the repeater to
normal use." The fellow who gave us the frequency came back with
an "Any time," and the machine went right back to rapid fire
Spanish. It appeared to me that there was a real problem with the
lack of inter-operability of the Anglo and Hispanic communities
in the South Florida area. Those folks really need to put on a
Field Day activity together sometime.

One of the things I like to do (and the reason I got my ham
radio license) is "Packet Radio", which is the transmission of
data over ham radio. The EOC Net claimed to have Packet going,
but most message traffic was supposed to be going via Voice on
the repeaters I'd spoken of earlier. Well, one evening after the
food distribution site had shut down for the night, and the net
was quiet, I opened up my back pack, and pulled out my computer
and packet radio controller. I tuned to the frequency that the
EOC Net Control had given me for packet, but we were too far from
anyone. After a half an hour of hearing nothing, I went to other
frequencies.

Basically, I'd set my radio to a frequency, and go read a
magazine. If a packet came over the air, I'd hear it, and it would
be printed on my computer screen. On 145.09 MHZ, I saw a packet
go by from "MIA7", a NetRom Node of the Packet Network. I
couldn't figure out why MIA7 wasn't on 145.07, but in an
emergency you put up what you can, where you can. If I could
connect to this Node, I could have it connect me to a PBBS
(Packet Bulletin Board System) in Hollywood, where I'd been told
before I left Clearwater that I could get messages out.

While I could see signals coming from MIA7, my radio was too
weak to get a signal to it. Then I saw another packet go by from
someone else. I set my packet controller to let me try to connect
to MIA7 via this other guy, and sure enough, whoever he was, he
was close enough to hear me, and digipeated (digitally repeated)
my packets to where MIA7 could hear them, and respond back to me
through this guy.

Once I hit MIA7, I typed "C HWD" (Connect me to Hollywood's
Node), and BINGO! "### Connected to HWD" came across my screen. I
was in. "C W7LUS" was my next command to the network, and I found
myself connected to the PBBS that had a direct link back to the
W4DPH PBBS in Clearwater over the HF (High Frequency) bands. I
sent a report to Charlie N4OBT, the Pinellas County EC (Emergency
Coordinator) of amateur radio operations about our deployment.
Then I sent the only piece of "Health and Welfare" traffic I sent
all week.

"Health and Welfare" messages are sent by the public via ham
radio operators, and are delivered by hams in the city of
destination. They say things like "Everyone safe here. I will
call when I can", and like that. In this case, I sent a message
to an address in Boca Raton Florida (I needed the Zip code for
routing the message through the Packet Radio network of BBS
(Bulletin Board Systems) systems, and the telephone number so the radio
operator at the other end would be able to deliver the message).

OK, not very original, but hey, it got the message across. I
wasn't far from Boynton in the grand scheme of things, and I
didn't need tourists coming by to visit. My Mom later said that
the thought never entered her head to come visit, and that she
understood why I said that. Now about the phone call to Vicky.

You have to understand that my girl friend Vicky has given
me strict instructions to NEVER send a message to her via amateur
radio EVER AGAIN. The hams in New York City are just not as nice
as hams elsewhere, and are (for want of a better term) slimy. So
here's the scene. It's 7AM, and the phone rings. "Vicky? This is
Mrs. Osband calling". Vicky sits down on her bed waiting for news
of my death. After all, why else would my mother be calling her?
Well, I'm not supposed to do THAT again either. But she finally
said that if I have to get a message to her, it is better through
my mother.

So Wha'd I Really Do?

Well, we did what we were supposed to do. We operated
radios, and passed messages from our site managers to the EOC. Of
course, you first had to either have a site manager, or find
someone who had just taken over things, and convince him or her
that they were the closest thing to a manager we were going to
get for a while, and could we use their name and title to "sign"
messages, please?

We got all the messages that were going out, down on paper,
and usually got someone to actually sign the things. These are
the traditions of message handling after all, and they are a
dying art. Hmm, I think I'll suggest that the Radio Club put on
an evening's program of "Running a message center" (and guess
who'll probably wind up running it).

Messages would be sent to operators in the EOC, and never
heard from again. It was OK, it happened to me in Oakland too.
You never got back an answer to a request, but people and
material would show up. The problem here was that there were
never enough volunteers to help with things like unloading
trucks, stacking cartons, sorting clothes, packing bags, and
myriad other chores.

As radio operators, we had a focussed task. While we would
sometimes help out with a few things here and there, our primary
job was communications.

When the EOC needed information from our site managers, one
of us would go out and find the fellow, while the other stayed in
the RV. We would both listen to the request for information.
While net control is saying the request a second time (due to
inexperience), the guy in the field sends the answer back to the
RV on the same frequency, but on simplex, since the hand held
radio is too weak to reach the distant repeater, but can override
the repeater's signal to the RV. The guy in the RV then relays
via the repeater frequency what the manager's answer was. The EOC
may have thought the manager was in the RV with the operator just
to answer their questions, but in fact he would be in the middle
of activity, constantly making decisions on where does this go,
what should be done with the other, and what about keeping some
spare for the evening, etc.

Two person teams are necessary for any site to be properly
maintained on the air. One guy to stay near the radio, the other
to float around, go to the bathroom, get fed, or just deal with
things. That second guy should always keep a hand held going to
keep informed as to what's happening, but it's so much easier to
have someone dealing with a problem while the other is getting
the word back that it IS being dealt with. With only one
operator, you'd have to waste the time telling Net Control you
will comply, ("What? Say again? Please increase your power, or
move your antenna") and THEN go off and do whatever it was. We
were very happy to have deployed our group in teams of two.

First off, I think there needs to be a video on "How to
contribute food, clothing, and materials" on the shelf of every
TV station in the country. It should give instructions to church
groups and companies on how to pack donated material for
immediate distribution in the affected areas. Rather than case
lots being sent, the cases should be broken up, and bagged so
that the material can be immediately handed out upon arriving at
the scene. Clothing should be grouped in sizes, and like sizes
grouped together and marked. The video would be shown by the
local station the day after a big disaster.

The video also needs to inform the public as to the
delineation of responsibilities of the various aid agencies (Red
Cross, Salvation Army, Baptist Convention, etc). Some have
sharply defined roles, while others try to fill in the gaps. Of
course, this means planning ahead of time for each agency to HAVE
a role in time of disaster. There is a Florida group of aid
agencies that has a combined display at the Governor's Hurricane
Conference each year. They might be well suited to developing the
video.

While we had gone down to Homestead with all sorts of radio
capabilities on board for various frequency bands and modes of
operation, simple 2 Meter voice was the method that the EOC could
handle with the amount of pressure from all different directions
that they had coming down on them (I may have been harsh in my
criticism above, but I respect the amount of responsibility those
guys had at the time). They did their best, and we were out there
trying to make them look good to EOC officials. There was
information I found out after the operation that would have been
useful during the time I was down there. For example, while I
couldn't reach the EOC directly by packet, there were
arrangements for messages on the W7LUS PBBS addressed to the EOC
to be delivered to the Packet Mailbox at the EOC. I didn't know
about it, but it meant that through my round about routing, I
could have sent the daily list of goods we needed by packet.

Each radio operator needs to have what I had in that
elementary school in Oakland after the Earthquake - a spiral
bound steno pad. Using it as a log book means that you have
access to information that has already gone by on the net. You
jot down things that may not be meant for your station, but when
a question comes up at your site, you've got the answers at hand,
without having to take up time on the radio channel. That's not
to say I didn't have paper, but since it was the typical "legal
pad" style, it meant that I had individual sheets everywhere.

I would like to suggest that any future net have an hour or
so each evening during "quiet time" to simply send information to
the operators in the field. It made it easier to explain
situations to our site administrators if we had information as to
what was happening farther up the distribution chain. We wouldn't
be happier about delays, just more understanding. This
"information hour" would let us fill up those steno pads with
useful info, and let information about useful techniques be
shared among sites. Information flow "sideways" among the net
operators was some of the most useful. Many times operators at
other sites responded to radio calls with solutions not requiring
the EOC, once the nature of the problem was established.

The radio van at our site was well away from the food
distribution tent by the time things got settled. Jimmy came to
us asking for National Guard troops to help establish an orderly
line one morning, since things at that time looked like they
could get out of hand. The site hadn't opened yet, and people
were showing up for food. The situation wasn't that bad, but
everyone was nervous. We called the EOC with our request, and
Chris at her site turned to one of the Brass Hats she constantly
had at her Government Center site, and had a squad of Guardsmen
sent to us. I've got to say that our Pinellas County team watched
out for each other. It was great!

The EOC, relief agencies, and others need to realize that
amateur radio comes out of a bright tradition of "message
handling". This concept comes out of an age of telegraphy which
has now passed. Newer technology means messages are passing via
different means, but they have to understand that when a message
comes with the word "Signed" followed by a name and a title, that
there really was a person at the other end that signed off the
message, and approved it for transmission. There are a few
stories of officials who waited until a voice communication with
the sending official could be made, or a message came up "through
the proper channels" that cost time, and possibly lives.

While the Amateur Radio area of the EOC contained the
survivable site for the radios, I feel that *The*EOC*should*not*be
Net*Control*! The guys in the EOC are too harried by what's going
on to properly run the net. Messages certainly have to be passed
to the EOC for response by the affected agency, but the Net
Control can be anyone with a radio, some paper, a runner, and a
coffee pot. In a pinch, you can do without the runner, because
temporary net controls can be assigned. Net Control should also
be shifted between operators to alleviate boredom.

I'm also trying to find out where Federal Express gets their
uniforms, because their people have walking shorts that have a
little side pocket that would be perfect for a steno pad. It sure
would have been useful in Homestead.

The Hurrahs and the Shouting

Well, we came back to Pinellas, and were the subject of
debriefing pizza parties (at N4OBT's house), radio club meetings
(to report what we did to the folks who contributed the money
allowing us to do it), and newsletter articles (like this one -
but shorter). I'm sure I can't get all of it across, and I
haven't tried. I've just tried to convey what one small part of
the operation was like. Sure, there was some fun (you have to
make it where you find it or you go crazy - OK, in my case,
crazier), and there were what would have to be called
"adventures", but we went because it was work that needed to be
done, with skills we had to offer. I'm proud to have done it, and
would be happy to go again. I'm just glad there are others with
"time in grade" now, so I don't have to be the leader.

- 30 -

Sorry this report took so long to get out. The first 8 pages
were put in very shortly after I got back. Since then, it's been
this and that, moving to Titusville, and the report was always
pushed to the back burner. Another APA-Nu came in today, and it
was time to get this thing word processed, and out the door. APA-
Nu is the Amateur Press Association of the NYU Science Fiction
Society (no longer affiliated with New York University). Copies
are being sent to the American Red Cross, the Florida Department
of Community Affairs, the American Radio Relay League, and anyone
else who wants one. It has turned out that I've had to cut some
things out to keep it to 16 (regular) pages. If you want the
entire thing, call me for an ASCII modem transfer. Opinions are
those of the author, who will take the rap for them, I'm sure.
I'm also sorry for the format, but it cut printing costs LOTS!